International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 47 (2004) 671–681

www.elsevier.com/locate/ijhmt

Experimental investigation on heat transfer and

frictional characteristics of spirally corrugated tubes
in turbulent flow at different Prandtl numbers
a,*
P.G. Vicente , A. Garc
ıa b, A. Viedma b

a
Departamento de Ingenier
ıa de Sistemas Industriales, Universidad Miguel Hern
andez, Avenida del Ferrocarril s/n,
03202 Elche, Spain
b
Departamento de Ingenier
ıa T

ermica y de Fluidos, Universidad Polit

ecnica de Cartagena, Campus de la Muralla del Mar,
30202 Cartagena, Spain
Received 25 September 2002; received in revised form 6 August 2003

Abstract
Corrugated tubes have been experimentally studied in order to obtain their heat transfer and isothermal friction
characteristics. The use of water and ethylene glycol as test fluids has allowed to cover a wide range of turbulent fluid
flow conditions: Reynolds number from 2000 to 90 000 and Prandtl number from 2.5 to 100.
The paper presents a comprehensive experimental study on a family of 10 corrugated tubes which were manufac-
tured by cold rolling. Artificial roughness is characterised by rib height h=d ranging from 0.02 to 0.06 and spiral pitch
p=d from 0.6 to 1.2. The results show that a unique dimensionless parameter named severity index (/ ¼ h2 =pd) can be
used to establish roughness influence on flow.
The large amount of experimental data has been correlated in order to obtain easy to use expressions for Fanning
friction factors and Nusselt numbers as functions of flow and geometry dimensionless parameters. The real benefits
which are offered by corrugated tubes have been assessed by calculating one of the performance evaluation criteria
commonly used in the enhanced heat transfer literature. Finally an optimisation study shows the guidelines to choose
which roughness geometry offers the best performance for specific flow conditions.

2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction Corrugation increases heat transfer coefficient in

Spirally corrugated tubes have become important in
commercial applications for turbulent one-phase flow
due to:
1. The pressure drop increment is generally compen-
sated by the heat transfer augmentation.
2. The amount of tube material used in the tube manu-
facturing neither increases nor decreases.
3. Manufacturing process is easy and cheap.
*
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: pedro.vicente@umh.es (P.G. Vicente).
0017-9310/$ - see front matter
2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2003.08.005
turbulent flow by mixing the flow in the boundary layer
and also by increasing the turbulence level of the fluid
flow. In addition, when smooth tubes are deformed, the
wet perimeter is increased and the cross-area is reduced,
leading to a hydraulic diameter reduction.
Corrugated tubes are sometimes chosen in the design
of shell-and-tube industrial heat exchangers. The size of
these heat exchangers can be reduced considerably by
using corrugated tubes instead of smooth tubes. Alter-
natively, the objective of applying an augmentation
technique could be to increase the heat duty of a heat
exchanger with an area previously fixed.
Fig. 1 shows an sketch of a single-start corrugated
tube, where p stands for helical pitch; h for height of the
ridge; and a for helical angle. The tube roughness is
672 P.G. Vicente et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 47 (2004) 671–681
Nomenclature
A heat transfer area, pdlh (m2 )
cp specific heat of the test fluid (J kg
1 K
1 )
d envelope (maximum inside) diameter (m)
h roughness height, Fig. 1 (m) pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
hþ roughness Reynolds number ðh=dÞRe f =2
ho outside heat transfer coefficient (W m
2 K
1 )
hi inside heat transfer coefficient (W m
2 K
1 )
I intensity (A)
k thermal conductivity (W m
1 K
1 )
lp length of test section between pressure taps
(m)
lh length of the heat transfer section (m)
m_ mass flow rate of the test fluid (kg s
1 )
p helical pitch, Fig. 1 (m)
DP pressure drop across the test section (N m
2 )
P pumping power (W)
Q heat transfer rate (W)
q00 heat flux, VI=pdlh (W m
2 )
t temperature (K)
twi inside surface temperature of the wall (K)
two outside surface temperature of the wall (K)
V voltage (V)
U overall heat transfer coefficient (W m
2 K
1 )
Fig. 1. Sketch of a single-start corrugated tube.
defined in non-dimensional form by the reduced height
h=d and reduced pitch p=d. Additionally the severity
index defined by / ¼ h2 =pd can be employed as the
unique parameter to characterise the tube roughness.
Corrugated tubes have been widely studied during
the last 30 years. Most of published experimental works
focus on shell and tube condensers which are used in
power plants [1]. In these surface condensers, water is
the tube-side fluid and the typical flow conditions are:
Prandtl numbers from 4 to 7 and Reynolds numbers
from 10 000 to 90 000.
In order to reduce the scope of the study, eight ex-
perimental papers dealing with single-start corrugated
tubes formed by cool rolling have been selected and
carefully analysed. Other artificial roughness techniques
such as spirally corrugation formed with internal man-
drels, springs, transverse corrugation and transverse
v average velocity of the fluid (m s
1 )
Dimensionless groups
f Fanning friction factor, DPd=2qv2 lp
þ
Gðh ; PrÞ heat transfer roughness function
Nu Nusselt number, hi d=k
Pr Prandtl number, cp l=k
Re Reynolds number, qvd=l
Rðhþ Þ momentum transfer roughness function
St Stanton number, Nu=RePr
Greek symbols
a helix angle ()
l dynamic viscosity (kg m
1 s
1 )
q fluid density (kg m
3 )
Subscripts
a augmented tube (corrugated tube)
b based on bulk temperature
in tube inlet
o equivalent smooth tube value
out tube outlet
s smooth tube
w based on wall temperature (inside surface)
ribs, have not been considered. A summary of the ex-
perimental range covered by each of the analysed works
is shown in Table 1. This includes: number of studied
corrugated tubes, geometrical range and flow range
analysed.
Most of the works listed in Table 1 were carried out
employing water as the only test fluid. This leads to a
reduced Prandtl number range, where heat transfer de-
pendence on Prandtl number cannot be determined with
a minimum level of accuracy. Moreover, since experi-
ments were carried out using tubes with diameters from
16 to 30 mm, Reynolds number ranges are reduced as
well. This leads to conclude that the flow behaviour
inside corrugated tubes is not well known for typical
viscous fluids conditions: high Prandtl numbers and
low Reynolds numbers.
In order to compare experimental results from the
different studies, the correlations proposed by each study
have been solved for one tube of the following rough-
ness: h=d ¼ 0:03 and p=d ¼ 0:4, at flow conditions
Pr ¼ 6 and Re ¼ 5000–100 000. Friction factor and heat
transfer augmentations (fa =fs and Nua =Nus ) are plotted
in Figs. 2 and 3 respectively.
The graphical results show large disagreements
among the correlations proposed by the different au-
thors: at Re ¼ 10 000, friction factors augmentations
between 1.3 and 3 and Nusselt number augmentations
 P.G. Vicente et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 47 (2004) 671–681 673

Table 1
Experimental range covered by the studies published in the literature available [2–9]
Paper Ntub d [mm] h=d  103 p=d [–] Re  103 Pr
Mehta and Raja Rao [2] 11 15.9 8–88 0.20–0.78 10–80 4–6
Gupta and Raja Rao [3] 12 22.0–25.0 20–62 0.20–1.20 6–60 5.0
Withers [4] 14 13.9–29.9 16–52 0.30–0.91 10–120 5–10
Li et al. [5] 16 17.0–17.9 10–69 0.14–0.97 10–80 5–7
Ganeshan and Raja Rao [6] 4 25.4–25.7 21–30 1.17–1.18 10–100 4.3
Sethumadhavan and Raja Rao [7] 2 25.4–25.7 26–30 1.17–1.18 3–70 4.7–35
Zimparov et al. [8] 25 24.9–26.1 17–47 0.25–0.67 10–60 2.2–3.4
Ravigururajan and Bergles [9] 3 23.6 6–22 0.81 3–50 5.8–10

6 4
Mehta and Raja Rao [2]

Nusselt Number Augmentation (Nu a /Nus)

Mehta and Raja Rao [2]
Friction Factor Augmentation (fa/ fs)

Gupta and Raja Rao [3] 3.5 Gupta and Raja Rao [3]
5 Whiters [4] Whiters [4]
Li et al. [5] Li et al. [5]
3
Ganeshan and Raja Rao [6] Ganeshan and Raja Rao [6]
Sethumadhavan and Raja Rao [7] Sethumadhavan and Raja Rao [7]
4
Zimparov et al. [8] 2.5 Zimparov et al. [8]
Ravigururajan and Bergles [9] Ravigururajan and Bergles [9]

3 2

1.5
2
1

1 0.5

0
0 3
3 4 5 10 104 105
10 10 10
Reynolds Number Re Reynolds Number Re

Fig. 2. Comparison among different correlations proposed to Fig. 3. Comparison among different correlations proposed to
determine friction factor augmentation produced by a corru- determine heat transfer augmentation produced by a corru-
gated tube: h=d ¼ 0:03 and p=d ¼ 0:4. gated tube: h=d ¼ 0:03 and p=d ¼ 0:4 (constant fluid properties
and Pr ¼ 6).

between 1.2 and 2 are observed. Rabas et al. [1] also contribution of this work is the wide range of flow
compared different experimental works and concluded conditions covered in terms of Re and Pr. This has al-
that there is a substantial scatter among the correlations; lowed to establish the heat transfer dependence on
they did not find any obvious reason to select any of the Prandtl number. Finally, it has been established the
proposed prediction methods. optimum corrugation geometry as a function of Rey-
From the above analysis it can be concluded that, nolds and Prandtl numbers.
although there is a great amount of experimental works
on spirally corrugated tubes, more experimental data are
required to: (1) obtain reliable correlations for heat 2. Tested tubes
transfer and pressure drop in a wider range of flow
conditions, (2) clarify the large differences between cor- The experimental study was carried out on a family
relations, (3) determine heat transfer dependence on of 10 spirally corrugated tubes (commercially known as
Prandtl number, and (4) determine the optimum geom- hard tubes). Tubes were manufactured from stainless
etry depending on flow conditions. steel plain tubes and had inner diameters of 18 mm and a
The main aim of the present paper is to obtain ex- wall thickness of 1 mm before the rolling operation took
perimental data to characterise the internal friction place. Corrugated tubes were manufactured by cold
factor and Nusselt numbers in corrugated tubes in wide rolling the outer surface, which produces an internal
flow conditions. A large amount of new experimental spirally ridging similar to the external grooving.
data has been obtained for 10 corrugated tubes of dif- Table 2 shows the geometrical parameters of the
ferent roughness geometry (h=d and p=d). The main corrugated tubes which have been studied in this work.
674 P.G. Vicente et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 47 (2004) 671–681

Table 2
Corrugated tubes dimensions: maximum internal diameter d, corrugation height h, helical pitch p, dimensionless height h=d, dimen-
sionless pitch p=d and severity index /
Tube no. d [mm] h [mm] p [mm] h=d [–] p=d [–] /  103 [–]
01 18.0 1.03 15.95 0.0572 0.886 3.694
02 18.0 0.67 15.95 0.0372 0.886 1.563
03 18.0 0.43 15.86 0.0239 0.881 0.648
04 18.0 0.48 10.94 0.0267 0.608 1.170
05 18.0 0.67 12.90 0.0372 0.717 1.932
06 18.0 0.87 12.98 0.0483 0.721 3.239
07 18.0 0.91 18.27 0.0506 1.015 2.519
08 18.0 0.60 21.14 0.0333 1.174 0.946
09 18.0 0.92 22.11 0.0511 1.229 2.126
10 18.0 0.48 20.84 0.0267 1.158 0.614

0.1 3. Experimental set-up

[2]
0.09
An schematic diagram of the experimental set-up is
0.08
[5] shown in Fig. 5. Pressure drop and heat transfer studies
φ =0.0038
0.07 were carried out for the turbulent flow of water (at 30–
[3]

0.06
(PRESENT WORK)
65 C) and ethylene glycol (at 30–55 C) covering a
[4]
φ=0.0020 continuous Reynolds range from 2000 to 90 000. The
h/d

0.05 [8]

experimental set-up and procedure are described in a

0.04
0.03
[9]
0.02
0.01
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
p/d
Fig. 4. Dimensionless height h=d vs. dimensionless pitch p=d.
Present work geometrical range in comparison to other papers
[2–9].
A comparison between the geometrical range studied at
the present work and those from other experimental
investigations is shown in Fig. 4.
The range of roughness geometry was as wide as al-
lowed the capability of the manufacturing process,
which depends on: (1) plain tube dimensions (diameter
and wall thickness), (2) tube material, and (3) manu-
facturing capacity to deform. Corrugation depth (so-
called corrugation height) depends on the distance
between the tube wall and the corrugation wheel,
whereas helical pitch depends on the angle formed by
the wheel and the plain tube axis.
After the cold deformation process, it is considered
that the maximum inner diameter is the original plain
tube diameter, and it has been used as length scale for
Re, Nu and f . This approach was recommended by
Marner et al. [10], since it allows comparisons among
the performance of the enhanced tubes from different
manufacturers.
[7]
previous paper [11] and with further details in [12].
[6]
φ=0.0006 Heat transfer experiments were carried out under
constant heat flux conditions, where energy is added to
the working fluid by alternating current Joule heating.
Pressure drop tests were carried out in the hydro-
1 1.2 1.4 1.6
dynamic developed region under isothermal conditions.
To keep a constant temperature in the tank, a cooling
circuit was added. This secondary loop consisted of a
variable-speed centrifugal pump, a double-pipe heat
exchanger and an electrical heater. The fluid was cooled
by chilled water in the counterflow heat exchanger. The
electrical heater, controlled by a PID, allowed for ad-
justing the temperature in the tank to the desirable
value.
Heat transfer tests were carried out at five different
Prandtl numbers: 92, 59, 37, 4.2 and 2.9, working with
ethylene glycol at 40, 55 and 70 C and water at 40 and
60 C. Fluid inlet and outlet temperatures tin , tout were
measured by submerged type RTDs. Outer wall tem-
perature was measured at one axial position by 12 sur-
face type RTDs spaced 30. The circumferential wall
temperature at x=d ¼ 35 was used to calculate the
Nusselt number. At this location the flow is fully de-
veloped and the local Nusselt number is the asymptotic
Nusselt number.
Nusselt number calculations were corrected by a
factor ðlb =lw Þ
0:14 that considers the fluid viscosity
variations at the boundary layer. The 0.14 exponent was
used in Sieder–Tate equation and by Sethumadhavan
and Raja Rao [7] and the results hardly varied with re-
spect to the more widely used 0.11 exponent, proposed
by Kays and London [13].
 P.G. Vicente et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 47 (2004) 671–681
Fig. 5. A schematic diagram of the experimental set-up.
Isothermal pressure drop studies were done with
water at 25 and 55 C and ethylene glycol at 55 C to
cover a continuous Reynolds number range from 2000
to 90 000. Fanning friction coefficients were determined
from fluid flow rate and pressure drop measurements. A
highly accurate pressure transmitter was used to mea-
sure the pressure drop along a 5.2 m tube length.
Experimental uncertainty was calculated following
Kline and McClintock [14] method based on a 95%
confidence level. Instrumentation errors were as follows:
temperature, 0.08 C; flow rate, 0.4% full scale; differ-
ential pressure 0.075% span; intensity 0.1% measure +
0.04% full scale; and voltage, 0.04% measure + 0.03%
full scale. To the thermophysical properties of the tested
fluids have been assigned an uncertainty of ±0.5% to q
and ±1% to l, cp and k. An uncertainty of 0.1% has been
allocated to the inner diameter of the test tube. Test
section length uncertainties were 5 mm for the pres-
sure test section and 10 mm for the heat transfer test
section.
Uncertainty calculations showed maximum values of
4% for Reynolds number, 3.5% for Prandtl number, 3%
for friction factor and 4.5% for Nusselt number.
4. Results and discussion
4.1. Pressure drop
Isothermal pressure drop experiments were per-
formed in one smooth and 10 corrugated tubes. Water
675
and ethylene glycol were used as test fluids, and a Rey-
nolds number range from 200 to 90 000 was covered.
The present work focuses on turbulent flow. Therefore
only results from transition to Re ¼ 90 000 are discussed,
while laminar and transition results will appear in a
future paper.
Pressure drop experiments with a smooth tube were
carried out so as to adjust the experimental set-up and
check its uncertainties. A maximum deviation of 3%
with respect to the widely employed Blasius equation
(fs ¼ 0:079Re
0:25 ) was found. This deviation was in
accordance with the uncertainty analysis, and assured a
proper instrumentation adjustment.
Pressure drop experiments were carried-out in the 10
corrugated tubes described at Table 2. The results are
shown as Fanning friction factor versus Reynolds
number in Fig. 6. Around 60 experimental points for
each tube were obtained. The use of water and ethylene
glycol at different temperatures allowed to cover a con-
tinuous Reynolds number range.
The set of corrugated tubes are supposed to be geo-
metrically similar. Through a non-dimensional analysis,
it can be demonstrated that friction factor is a function
of Reynolds number and roughness, characterised by
two dimensionless numbers: dimensionless height h=d
and dimensionless pitch p=d.
Friction factor experimental results from all test
tubes (600 points) are correlated by the following
equation:
fa ¼ 1:47ðh=dÞ0:91 ðp=dÞ
0:54 Re
0:16 : ð1Þ
676 P.G. Vicente et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 47 (2004) 671–681

-1
10 5 TUBE 01
TUBE 01 h/d=0.0572 p/d=0.886
TUBE 02 h/d=0.0372 p/d=0.886 TUBE 02
TUBE 03 h/d=0.0239 p/d=0.881 4 TUBE 03
Friction Factor f

fa /f s
TUBE 04 h/d=0.0267 p/d=0.608 TUBE 04
TUBE 05 h/d=0.0372 p/d=0.717 3 TUBE 05

1
-2
10
5 TUBE 06
TUBE 07
~ ~ TUBE 08
4

f a /fs
-1 TUBE 09
10 TUBE 06 h/d=0.0483 p/d=0.721
TUBE 10
TUBE 07 h/d=0.0506 p/d=1.015 3
Friction Factor f

TUBE 08 h/d=0.0333 p/d=1.174

TUBE 09 h/d=0.0511 p/d=1.229
2
TUBE 10 h/d=0.0267 p/d=1.158

1
3 4 5
10 10 10
Reynolds Number Re
-2
10 Fig. 7. Friction factor augmentation (fa =fs ) vs. Reynolds
number.
SMOOTH TUBE

3 4 5
10 10 10
Reynolds Number Re fa =fs ¼ 19:4ð/Þ0:46 Re0:09 : ð3Þ

Fig. 6. Fanning friction factor vs. Reynolds number.
Since friction factor is proportional to ðh=dÞ0:91 and to
ðp=dÞ
0:54 , the severity index / ¼ h2 =pd can be used as
the only parameter that characterises tube roughness’
influence on friction factor. The following general
equation is finally proposed
fa ¼ 1:53ð/Þ0:46 Re
0:16 :
Eq. (2) leads to a deviation of 7% for 95% of friction
factor experimental data in the region: Re ¼ 8000–
60 000. In low Reynolds turbulent flow, (Re ¼ 2000–
8000), the use of Eq. (2) is recommended for tubes with
soft corrugation (/ < 10
3 ); for tubes with a medium-
high roughness (/ > 10
3 ) it is recommended to use a
constant friction factor value evaluated with Eq. (2) at
Re ¼ 8000. If the above-mentioned recommendations
are followed, the estimated error stays within ±10%. For
Reynolds numbers higher than 60 000 the use of Eq. (2)
is still recommended. Consequently, the predicted fric-
tion factor values are higher (up to 16%) than the ex-
perimental ones (security-side predictions in all cases).
Fig. 7 shows friction factor augmentation produced
by corrugated tubes. The increase (fa =fs ) is determined
as the ratio between the experimental friction factor fa
and the smooth tube friction factor fs , which is calcu-
lated by the Blasius equation at the same Reynolds
number. Augmentation values between 1.2 and 4
were obtained according mainly to the roughness geo-
metry.
An expression to calculate friction factor augmenta-
tion can be obtained as the ratio between Eq. (2) and the
Blasius equation
Eq. (3) shows that pressure drop augmentation depends
mainly on severity index / ¼ h2 =pd with a slight de-
pendence on Re.
4.1.1. Momentum roughness function R(hþ )
Friction factor results were also analysed by using the
similarity friction law for roughness surfaces. This ana-
lytical model was developed by Nikuradse [15] for sand-
ð2Þ grained tubes and used successfully by Webb et al. [16]
for correlation pressure drop results for artificial
roughness surfaces. Later, some authors as Whiters [4],
Sethumadhavan and Raja Rao [7], Mehta and Raja Rao
[2] or Zimparov et al. [8], have used this method in order
to correlate their experimental results on corrugated
tubes.
The roughness function Rðhþ Þ is defined by
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
Rðhþ Þ ¼ 2=fa þ 2:5 lnð2h=dÞ þ 3:75; ð4Þ
þ
where hp is the roughness Reynolds number (hþ ¼
ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
ðh=dÞRe fa =2).
Experimental pressure drop results are presented in
terms of Rðhþ Þ vs. hþ in Fig. 8. An influence of rough-
ness geometry on Rðhþ Þ is clearly observed: Rðhþ Þ ¼
/ðh=d; p=d; hþ Þ. This was also found by Webb et al. [16]
for transversal ribbed tubes and by Sethumadhavan and
Raja Rao [7], Mehta and Raja Rao [2] and Zimparov
et al. [8] for corrugated tubes.
It is observed a constant value of Rðhþ Þ at low hþ . At
high hþ the value increases. The following equations
in two regions are proposed to correlate Rðhþ Þ
Rðhþ Þ ¼ 2:60ðp=hÞ0:35 hþ < 925ðp=hÞ
1
ð5Þ
Rðhþ Þ ¼ 1:07ðp=hÞ0:48 ðhþ Þ0:13 hþ > 925ðp=hÞ
1
 P.G. Vicente et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 47 (2004) 671–681 677

taken if ‘‘sand grain’’ roughness analytical methods were

TUBE 01
12 TUBE 02 to be used. The helix angle tends to promote rotation in
TUBE 03 the main flow. Li et al. [5] determined from flow visu-
TUBE 04
R(h+)

10 TUBE 05 alisation by hydrogen bubbles that both longitudinal

and spiral flows appear. Deep corrugations with large
8
spiral angles produce swirl flow while in corrugations
6 with spiral angles approaching 90, the flow pass
~ TUBE 06 ~ transversally through the corrugations.
TUBE 07
12 TUBE 08 Despite the great amount of published works on
TUBE 09
corrugated tubes, it can be stated that flow nature has
R(h+)

TUBE 10
10
not been yet enough understood. It seems reasonable to
8 consider that two different flows exist: (1) rotation flow
and (2) axial flow. Flow rotation depends on helix angle
6
1 2 3
(related to p=d) and how it spreads to main flow depends
10 10 10
on flow conditions, namely Re number. Axial flow
Roughness Reynolds Number h +
through corrugations may present separations depend-
Fig. 8. Momentum roughness function Rðhþ Þ vs. roughness ing on the helical ridge shape and Reynolds number. In
Reynolds number hþ . transverse rectangular ribs, flow separation exists and its
re-attachment depends on p=h relation [16,17]. Plastical
deformation does not produce edging shapes and the
Eq. (5) predicts Rðhþ Þ data for corrugated tubes of se-
existence of flow separations cannot be predicted.
verity index / > 10
3 and roughness Reynolds numbers
Although the flow mechanism is quite complex,
hþ ¼ 10–600 within a standard deviation of 6%. This
friction factor results have been properly correlated in
error in Rðhþ Þ produces a ±8% deviation for the friction
simple mathematical functions. As corrugated tubes of
factor prediction.
this work present closed helical angles a ¼ atanðpd=pÞ ¼
In Fig. 8 it is observed how tubes with high-medium
68–80, it is reasonable to assume that flow develops
roughness behave qualitatively in a different way to soft
mainly on the axial direction.
roughened tubes 03, 08 and 10 (/ < 10
3 ). As it will be
On the other hand, experimental results show that
discussed later, these geometries lack of practical inter-
the friction factor does not present an asymptotical
est, and they have not been taken into account when
trend with Reynolds number, as ‘‘sand grain’’ rough-
determining Rðhþ Þ correlation.
ened tubes would do. The momentum roughness func-
tion Rðhþ Þ was developed from a similarity analysis of
4.1.2. Results discussion
‘‘sand grain’’ roughness. Therefore it may not correlate
Pressure drop experimental results were processed to
the pressure drop results better than a friction factor
develop empirical functions for f and Rðhþ Þ. These
correlation does. In fact the use of Rðhþ Þ function has
correlations allow a direct comparison with data pro-
not improved the fitting of the experimental data in the
vided by other experimental works published.
present work.
Fig. 6 and Eq. (2) indicate that friction factor de-
It can be stated that pressure drop augmentation in
creases with Reynolds number. No asymptotical be-
corrugated tubes is produced by: (1) drag forces exerted
haviour has been observed, even in tubes with marked
on the flow field by the ridge, (2) flow blockage due to
roughness. Experimental results from Ganeshan and
area reduction, (3) turbulence augmentation and (4)
Raja Rao [6], Sethumadhavan and Raja Rao [7] and
rotational flow produced by the spiral ridge. The flow is
Zimparov et al. [8] reported that friction factor decreases
highly complex, with a rotational velocity component
with Reynolds number; an asymptotical behaviour of
and possible flow separations, which depends on cor-
friction factor with Re number is only observed in tubes
rugation geometry and Reynolds number. Hence the
with a high severity index (/ > 5  10
3 ). For tubes with
correlation of the pressure drop results in corrugated has
severity index values similar to those of this work, Re
been more difficult than in dimpled ones (made by the
number influence on friction factor can be written as
authors [11]) where the flow is more simple.
f / Re
a , where a stays within 0.10 and 0.16 for all
cases. Friction factor augmentation given by Eq. (3) has
been solved for a corrugated tube of roughness: h=d ¼ 4.2. Heat transfer
0:03 and p=d ¼ 0:4, at Reynolds numbers from 5000
to 100 000 and results agree with Zimparov et al. [8] Heat transfer studies under constant heat flux con-
(Fig. 2). ditions were carried out for both the smooth and the 10
Ravigururajan and Bergles [9] pointed out that corrugated tubes. A wide flow range was achieved by
whenever corrugated tubes were studied, care should be using two test fluids at different temperatures:
678 P.G. Vicente et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 47 (2004) 671–681

• Water at 40 and 65 C: Prandtl numbers 4.1 and 2.9 103

CORRUGATED TUBE
and Reynolds numbers from 3000 to 90 000. (WATER)
• Ethylene glycol at 40, 55 and 70 C: Prandtl numbers CORRUGATED TUBE
(ETHYLENE GLYCOL)
92, 59 and 37 and Reynolds numbers from 1500 to
12 000.

Nusselt Number Nu
Nusselt numbers were determined from measure-
102
ments on a section located at x=d ¼ 35. As the entry
region under turbulent flow is very small (x=d  15), this Gnielinski [18]
Pr=100
local Nusselt number is thus the asymptotic Nusselt Pr=60
number. Pr=35
Pr=6
Heat transfer tests in a smooth tube were carried out SMOOTH TUBE Pr=3
to verify the experimental set-up and the uncertainties
analysis. Fig. 9 shows Nusselt number results in com- 101
parison to Gnielinski [18] equation, 103 104 105
Reynolds Number Re
ðfs =2ÞðRe
1000ÞPr
Nus ¼ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi : ð6Þ
1 þ 12:7 fs =2ðPr2=3
1Þ Fig. 10. Nusselt number vs. Reynolds number (Tube 03).

Nusselt number results are higher than those predicted

by Eq. (6) within a range from 4% to 10%. They have
been correlated within a deviation of 3% by the fol-
lowing equation:
Nus ¼ 0:0344ðRe
1500Þ0:78 Pr0:37 :
Eq. (7) will be used to determine the heat transfer aug-
mentation produced by corrugated tubes.
Turbulent flow heat transfer experiments were car-
ried out for the corrugated tubes described in Table 2.
Eighty experimental points were taken approximately
for each tube in order to determine Re and Pr influence
on Nua . Fig. 10 illustrates the heat transfer augmentation
produced by Tube 03 with respect to the smooth tube.
The figure shows Nua measurements vs. Reynolds for the
different Prandtl numbers and it is a sample of the ex-
periments carried out in all tubes.
3
10
Pr=6
Pr=40
Nusselt Number Nu
Assuming that corrugated tubes are geometrically
similar, it can be stated that a Nusselt number equation
in the form Nua ¼ Nua ðRe; Pr; h=d; p=dÞ can be developed
to characterise the tube family. The following correla-
ð7Þ tion was obtained via curve-fitting of heat transfer re-
sults for the 10 corrugated tubes (800 points):
Nua ¼ 0:403ðh=dÞ0:53 ðp=dÞ
0:29 ðRe
1500Þ0:74 Pr0:44 : ð8Þ
Corrugation pitch and height influence on heat
transfer is Nua / ðh=dÞ0:53 ðp=dÞ
0:29 . This shows severity
index (/ ¼ h2 =pd) to be the unique geometric parameter
to characterise heat transfer augmentation produced by
corrugated tubes. The following general equation corre-
lates 95% of experimental data within a deviation of 14%
Nua ¼ 0:374ð/Þ0:25 ðRe
1500Þ0:74 Pr0:44 : ð9Þ
Eq. (9) shows that Prandtl number’s influence on heat
transfer is Nua / Pr0:44 . The exponent for the smooth
tube is Pr is 0.37. Therefore it can be concluded that the
heat transfer augmentation produced by corrugated
tubes increases with Prandtl number. The Nusselt
Pr=3 number augmentation can be evaluated as the ratio
between Nua (Eq. (9)) and Nus (Eq. (7)), resulting

Pr=60
Pr=100 Nua =Nus ¼ 10:9ð/Þ0:25 ðRe
1500Þ
0:04 Pr0:07 : ð10Þ
2
10
As an example, Fig. 11 shows Nusselt number aug-
mentation Nua =Nus for Tubes 01, 02 and 03 at Prandtl
Experimental Results
numbers 6 and 60.
Gnielinski [18]

4.2.1. Heat transfer roughness function G(hþ )

1 Heat transfer results were also analysed in terms of
10
3 4 5 the heat transfer roughness function Gðhþ ; PrÞ, devel-
10 10 10
oped by Dipprey and Sabersky [19]. This function was
Reynolds Number Re
first used by Webb et al. [16] and later by many other
Fig. 9. Nusselt number vs. Reynolds number (smooth tube). authors to analyse their experimental data from artificial
 P.G. Vicente et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 47 (2004) 671–681 679

allows to establish the Prandtl number influence on heat

4 Tube 01, φ =3.69 103 : Pr=60 Pr=6
transfer with good precision. Webb [20] indicated that
Nusselt Augmentation Nua /Nus

Tube 02, φ =1.56 103 : Pr=60 Pr=6

Tube 03, φ =0.65 103 : Pr=60 Pr=6 Prandtl number dependence was an unsettled problem
3.5
since there are few experimental studies that have stud-
3 ied this subject so far. The only works which can be
taken as reference studies are those from Webb et al. [16]
2.5
and Sethumadhavan and Raja Rao [7].
2
The analysis of Eq. (10) shows that Nusselt number
augmentation produced by corrugated tubes depends
1.5 on: (1) roughness geometry (quantified by the severity
index /), (2) flow conditions (Re number) and (3)
1 physical fluid properties (Pr number). Nusselt number
3 4 5
10 10 10
augmentation given by Eq. (10) has been solved for a
Reynolds Number Re
corrugated tube of roughness: h=d ¼ 0:03 and p=d ¼ 0:4,
Fig. 11. Nusselt number augmentation (Nua =Nus ) for Tubes 01, at flow conditions Pr ¼ 6 and Re ¼ 5000–100 000 and
02 and 03 at Prandtl numbers 6 and 60. results agree with Li et al. [5] (Fig. 3).
As it was expected, tubes with the highest severity
index present the highest heat transfer augmentation.
roughness surfaces. The heat transfer roughness func-
Experimental results show that Nusselt number aug-
tion can be written as the product of Gðhþ ÞPrn
mentation (Nua =Nus ) increases with Prandtl number and
fa =ð2StÞ
1 decreases with Reynolds number. Heat transfer in-
Gðhþ ÞPrn ¼ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi þ Rðhþ Þ: ð11Þ
fa =2 creases up to 200% (Nua =Nus  3) can be obtained for
Reynolds numbers lower than 5000 and at Prandtl
The experimental results have been processed in this way number 60. On the other hand, at Re ¼ 90 000 and
and the dependence on Prandtl number was found to be Pr ¼ 2:5 the maximum heat transfer augmentation is
Gðhþ Þ / Pr0:57 . Nua =Nus  1:75.
Fig. 12 shows Gðhþ ÞPr
0:57 as a function of roughness This behaviour can be explained because for turbu-
Reynolds number hþ . Two different regions are observed lent flows the dominant thermal resistance is concen-
depending on hþ range. The following equations are trated at a thin boundary layer. Its thickness depends
proposed on Reynolds and Prandtl numbers. A wide thermal
boundary layer is expected at low Reynolds numbers
Gðhþ ÞPr
0:57 ¼ 14:3 hþ ¼ 15–60 and at high Prandtl numbers. These are the conditions
ð12Þ
Gðhþ ÞPr
0:57 ¼ 5:13ðhþ Þ0:25 hþ ¼ 60–600 where the mixing of the flow produced by corrugation is
more effective.
These equations along with Eq. (12) for Rðhþ Þ leads to a Heat transfer results have been presented by the heat
deviation in the calculated Nusselt number within transfer roughness function Gðhþ ; PrÞ. The result
±12.5% in the hþ range from 15 to 600. obtained, Gðhþ Þ / Pr0:57 , agrees with the one reported by
Webb et al. [16], and it is slightly different from the
4.2.2. Results discussion one reported by Sethumadhavan and Raja Rao [7]
The present paper presents a large amount of ex- (Gðhþ Þ / Pr0:55 ).
perimental data covering a wide Prandtl number range.
This is indeed the main contribution of the work as it
5. Performance evaluation, roughness optimisation

Bergles et al. [21] and Webb [22] proposed several

30
performance criteria to evaluate the thermohydraulic
G(h+) Pr –0.57

25 performance of enhanced tubes. In this paper, only the

20 criterion R3 outlined by Bergles et al. [21] is calculated to
15 14.3 5.13 (h+)0.25 quantify the benefits from corrugated tubes. The crite-
rion is defined by R3 ¼ Nua =Nuo where Nua is the heat
10
transfer obtained with the corrugated tube and Nuo is
5 the heat transfer obtained with an smooth tube for equal
1 2 3
10 10 10
+ pumping power and heat exchange surface area. To
Roughness Reynolds Number h
satisfy the constrain of equal pumping power, Nuo is
Fig. 12. Heat transfer roughness function Gðhþ ÞPr
0:57 vs. evaluated at the equivalent smooth tube Reynolds
roughness Reynolds number hþ . number Reo , which matches
680 P.G. Vicente et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 47 (2004) 671–681

3 2
-3
TUBE 01, φ=3.69 10 : Pr=60 Pr=6
Criterion R3

1.9 Re=3200
-3
2.5 TUBE 02, φ=1.56 10 : Pr=60 Pr=6 Pr=60
-3 Pr=6
TUBE 03, φ=0.65 10 : Pr=60 Pr=6 1.8 Re=5000

2 Re=7000
1.7
Re=10000

Criterion R3
1.5 1.6

1 1.5 Re=6000
10 10 10
3 1.4
-3 Re=12000
TUBE 04, φ=1.17 10 : Pr=60 Pr=6
Criterion R3

2.5 TUBE 05, φ=1.93 10-3 : Pr=60 Pr=6 1.3

-3 Re=30000
TUBE 06, φ=3.24 10 : Pr=60 Pr=6
1.2
2
1.1 Re=60000
1.5
1
0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4
1
10 10 10 Severity Index φ × 10 3
3
-3
TUBE 08, φ=0.95 10 : Pr=60 Pr=6 Fig. 14. Roughness optimisation following R3 (proposed by
Criterion R3

2.5 TUBE 09, φ=2.13 10-3 : Pr=60 Pr=6

-3 Bergles et al. [21]).
TUBE 10, φ=0.61 10 : Pr=60 Pr=6
2
corrugated tubes with severity index around 1.5 to
1.5
2 · 10
3 (Tubes 02 or 05).
1
3 4 5
10 10 10

Reynolds Number Re a 6. Conclusions

Fig. 13. Performance evaluation criterion R3 vs. Re for Prandtl
numbers 6 and 60.
fa Re3a ¼ fo Re3o :
Fig. 13 shows the performance parameter R3 for the
corrugated tube family at Prandtl numbers 6 and 60. As
it was expected, it is observed that the performance
improves with Prandtl number.
At low Reynolds numbers (Re < 10 000), tubes with
the best performance are the ones with the highest se-
verity index (/ > 3  10
3 ). Heat transfer enhancements
around 100% (R3 ¼ 2) at Pr ¼ 60 and around 50%
(R3 ¼ 1:5) at Pr ¼ 6 are obtained when smooth tubes are
directly replaced by corrugated ones.
On the other hand, at high Reynolds numbers
(Re ¼ 10 000–40 000), tubes with intermediate roughness
(/ ¼ 1–2  10
3 ) are more suitable. At these Reynolds
numbers, enhancements around 50% (R3 ¼ 1:5) can be
obtained. The analysis allows to state that low rough-
ened tubes (/ < 10
3 ) are not advantageous in practical
applications.
Results show that the selection of a corrugated tube
for a particular application depends on flow conditions.
Fig. 14 shows the performance evaluation criterion R3
vs. the severity index /, for Prandtl numbers 6 and 60
and different Reynolds numbers. The figure shows that
for low Reynolds numbers the best choice is to select
high-roughened tubes (like Tube 01). However at higher
Reynolds numbers, the most appropriate is to employ
(1) A comprehensive experimental study has been
carried out on a family of corrugated tubes. Corrugated
tubes present higher-pressure drop and heat transfer
ð13Þ than the smooth tube under the same flow conditions.
Increases from 20% to 300% in friction factor coefficient
and up to 250% in Nusselt number were observed.
(2) General correlations were drawn so as to cha-
racterise the studied corrugated tubes family. The se-
verity index (/ ¼ h2 =pd) has been employed as the
unique geometric parameter to characterise roughness
influence on flow.
(3) Measurements were taken at five different Prandtl
numbers in order to establish accurately Prandtl influ-
ence on heat transfer, which was found to be Nua /
Pr0:44 . Therefore, heat transfer augmentation pro-
duced by corrugated tubes increases with Prandtl
number.
(4) According to the performance evaluation crite-
rion R3 suggested by Bergles et al. [21], an optimisation
analysis was carried out. At low Reynolds numbers
(Re < 10 000), the most advantageous tubes are those
with the highest severity index (/ > 3  10
3 ) while at
high Reynolds numbers (Re ¼ 10 000–40 000), the best
choice is to employ tubes with intermediate roughness
(/ ¼ 1–2  10
3 ).
(5) The present study broadens considerably the ex-
perimental data carried out on corrugated tubes at
Prandtl numbers higher than typical water values. Cor-
rugated tubes with similar geometry to those studied in
the current work have been characterised. Correlations
 P.G. Vicente et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 47 (2004) 671–681
obtained from pressure drop and heat transfer experi-
ments can be employed for design purposes with a high
level of accuracy and under a wide range of flow con-
ditions: Re ¼ 2000–90 000 and Pr ¼ 2:5–100.
Acknowledgements
This research has been partially financed over the
1FD1997-0211 (TYP) grant of the ‘‘Direcci
on General
de Ense~ nanza Superior e Investigaci

on Cient
ıfica’’ in
Spain and the HRS Spiratube company from Murcia
(Spain).
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